Whisper to a Scream
by Kamari the Mighty
Summary: Gwen is a shy, lonely goth who just wants someone to talk to, when a chance meeting with Duncan and his band of misfits turns her world upside down. Primarily Gwuncan, but with bits of Gwent, Gwizzy, Gwan, and Gwizzawn as well. Rated M for language, violence and darker themes.
1. The Loneliest Girl

**I own nothing, except the ideas. Total Drama is the property of Teletoon Inc.**

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It was a day like any other for Gwen Carver. She had woken at seven AM that morning, eaten breakfast and dressed in her usual all black ensemble. By seven thirty she had arrived at her high school where she was promptly treated to another insult session by her long time nemesis, Heather Chen. And by eight she was in her first class, all her attention turned to her school work.

That Heather had confronted her upon her arrival at school had not come as a shock to Gwen. Heather had been bullying her since second grade and Gwen had little reason to believe that would ever change. She had tried every method she could think of to get Heather to leave her alone, but none of it had worked and she had finally given up hope of altering the status quo. It didn't help that no one else seemed to care how much she was tormented. No one had ever stood up for her or tried to help her and she knew why. Being a social pariah was the price one paid for being the only goth in a sea of jocks, preps, and whatever other social cliques populated the high school. Even the nerds and stoners avoided her like the plague, fearing retribution from Heather and her gang if they associated with the "weird goth girl." And so, Gwen spent her days alone, with no one to talk to but the voices in her head.

In truth, Gwen had long since gotten used to being alone. There were times when she even kind of liked it. But most of the time she wished that even one person would stand with her. She had tried to get people on her side, but they were either too afraid of Heather or had no desire to associate with someone whom they considered different.

Gwen couldn't blame them though, at least not entirely. She knew it was partially her fault that she was shunned. She had been born with an obvious stutter and her inability to speak like everyone else had made her painfully shy from an early age. The stutter had gone away as she'd gotten older, but the shyness remained, often leaving Gwen at a loss for words on the rare occasions when people did try to talk to her. The years of bullying by Heather and others had only made the shyness worse, as the constant belittling had convinced Gwen that she wasn't strong enough to stand up for herself or anyone else. And that combination of the stutter and the shyness had been more than potent enough to kill Gwen's chances at a social life, though there had been moments where she had almost cracked through her shell.

In fact, she'd had a brief friendship with Dakota Milton, when the latter had first moved to Gwen's hometown. But Heather had quickly ended that, convincing Dakota that Gwen was only friends with her because of a warped infatuation. That had been all it had taken to get Dakota to abandon Gwen and join Heather. That incident had shattered Gwen's confidence and driven her further into the thralls of loneliness. Dakota now spent her free time harassing Gwen as well, along with the other members of Heather's gang, Lindsay Peterson, Anne Maria Belosi, Amy Gardner, and Sugar Mott. Gwen had a hard time understanding how Sugar had become one of Heather's minions, as the pudgy pageant queen was exactly the type of person Heather usually bullied, but there must have been something that had gotten her in Heather's good graces, though Gwen couldn't figure out what. Together, these six had made Gwen's life a living hell since the start of high school, though several of them had been bullying her for much longer.

And they weren't the only ones. Gwen also caught flack from Heather's boyfriend, Alejandro Burromuerto, and his gang, which included his best friend Justin Marshall, Lindsay's boyfriend Tyler Johnson, and Amy's boyfriend Topher Hardrick. There was also the class president, Courtney Santos, whose bullying was more subtle, but no less hurtful. And finally the rage filled jockette duo of Eva Grey-Mendez and Jo Connors, who physically intimidated everyone, including Heather's gang.

All of these forces conspired against Gwen on a daily basis, leaving her lonely, scared, and unable to form any real or lasting bonds with anyone. She had turned to goth imagery and appearance in an attempt to reflect the dark pit in her soul, but that had only made things worse. Her bullies and most other people, looked at her like she was a freak, dressed all in black and hiding in the shadows. Heather took delight in mocking her for her fashion sense and Courtney viewed her with suspicion, as though the class president thought Gwen was some kind of pagan devil worshiper or something like that. Other people, including many of her teachers, just thought she was weird or out of touch with their so called reality.

This distorted impression of Gwen by others had lead to a wide radius around her at all times. Now, at lunch that day, she sat alone at one table, with at least one table in between her and anyone else in every direction. No one looked in her direction, no one made eye contact with her as she passed them and no one spoke to her, even in casual greeting. Even the lunch lady avoided eye contact, much to Gwen's dismay.

The suffering didn't end when Gwen left school either. Her home life was just as lonely and miserable. Her father was drunkard who barely noticed her and her mother hated her for her goth style. Her two younger brothers avoided her as well, not wanting to hurt their social standing by association. Her return home that afternoon was greeted by a grunt from her father and a withering glare from her mother, who quickly left the room.

Gwen made her way to her room in silence, only emerging again to eat dinner. Her mother glared at her again as she entered the dining room, her brothers already too busy eating to notice her. The look on her mother's face suggested an argument was brewing and Gwen knew what the shouting would be about. Deciding she didn't want any part of her mother's complaints tonight, she quickly left, without touching her food.

She made her way outside, hoping for some relief in to cool night air. Not knowing what else to do, she started walking, heading in no particular direction. Her wandering eventually brought her downtown, which was lit up like a Christmas tree as it always was at night. It was then that she heard the sound of music emanating from a nearby club. Drawn by the thunderous, aggressive beat she made her way over to the club, noting that the sign over the door stated that all ages were welcome. Taking this as a positive sign, she entered the club, finding a band raging on stage and at least a hundred people banging along to the music.

The man at the bar gave her a friendly nod and she moved to join the crowd, though she wasn't familiar with the band that was playing. Still, she felt something surge inside her, like an animal trying to escape the confines of a cage and then she saw him, a young, brooding man with a tall, green mohawk watching her from the entrance to the club.

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**A/N: And that's chapter one. As you can see, it's more of a prologue, as most of my opening chapters are. This story will focus on Gwen and her transformation from the shy, lonely goth in just introduced to an aggressive, outspoken goth-punk. What else ensues is a matter of secrecy for now. The title of the fic refers to the fact that Gwen as she is now is just a whisper and that she will eventually become a scream, metaphorically speaking. Anyway, that's all I've got for now. Hope you enjoy. Cheers, KT.**


	2. Enter the Anarchist

The man watched Gwen for what, to her, seemed like an eternity before finally moving to join the crowed in front of the stage. As he approached Gwen kept her gaze focused on him, as though she were studying a piece of art. Her sight took in every aspect of him; the tall, green mohawk, the sleeves of tattoos that twined down both his arms, the piercings in his ears and left eyebrow, the way his eyes seemed to drink her soul. He was beautiful, though Gwen was aware that wasn't usually the word used to describe attractive males. And yet it suited him better than any other word she could conjure, so she went with it.

She was so wrapped up in his looks that she didn't even realize that she'd lost sight of him until she noticed she was staring at an empty space in the crowd. Despairing, she glanced around, hoping to catch a glimpse of where he had gone. But no sight of him remained and Gwen felt her momentary excitement fade like the afterimage of a dream.

And then came a voice, right behind her, making her jump. "I've never seen you here before," it said, sending a shiver down her spine.

She turned then and there he was, standing so close she could feel the heat from his body.

"I...I, uh...my name is Gwen." she stammered, silently cursing herself for her clumsy attempt at conversation.

"I see." the man said. "Well, Gwen, my name is Duncan Reynolds and like I said, I've never seen you here before. This your first time?"

"Uh, yes?" Gwen said, hoping she was giving him the right answer.

"Well, welcome then." he said, grinning. "Welcome to Mad Dog's, our town's only home for punk and metal shows."

"You...you're not going to ask why I'm here?" Gwen asked, perplexed by his greeting.

"No, why would I?" Duncan asked. "This club is all ages and I assume you're here because you like the music. That's all I need to know."

"Actually, I don't really know the music." Gwen replied, not meeting his gaze.

"Well, there's nothing wrong with that." Duncan said, grinning again. "The band currently on the stage is Meat Wagon, one of my personal favorite hardcore bands. But the best is yet to come. The headliners for tonight are Static Apocalypse and they're fucking killer."

Gwen looked at him like he was speaking a different language. She had never heard of either of the bands he'd mentioned and she had no idea what hardcore was. She wasn't allowed to listen to aggressive music at home or at school and the most brutal stuff she'd ever heard was some pop-punk and mild goth rock.

"What's hardcore?" she asked then, just for something to say.

"Hardcore is a variant form of punk." Duncan answered, apparently unperturbed by her lack of knowledge. "It's characterized by it's aggressive style of play and it's socially conscious lyrics, along with it's utter disregard for the mainstream."

"So these bands...they don't get played on the radio?" Gwen asked, now throughly curious.

"Exactly." Duncan answered. "Everything we do is about going against the grain, fighting that which would enslave us."

"We?" Gwen asked, once again confused.

"Yeah." Duncan answered. "I'm an anarchist and a lifelong member of the hardcore movement. I even have my own band, but we're not ready to play shows like this."

"Why not?" Gwen asked, finally managing to meet his gaze.

"Because we don't have a singer." Duncan answered. "But we're working on finding one." His gaze lingered on Gwen for a moment before he turned his attention back to the stage, where a new band was getting ready to play.

Realizing that this must be the Static Apocalypse Duncan had mentioned earlier, Gwen also turned her attention to the stage, eager to see what this band was like. She still wasn't sure about what she was listening too, but at that moment it didn't matter. All that mattered was that Duncan liked the music and that she did whatever he did.

When the band was finally done sound-checking, their vocalist, a burly man with long hair and a massive beard stepped up to the front of the stage and bellowed, "What's up motherfuckers! Welcome to the Static Apocalypse!"

With that, the band launched into a ferocious song that immediately got the whole club moving. Gwen felt something inside her surge in response to the beat, her pulse quickening as Duncan grabbed her and shielded her from the flailing bodies all around them. She quickly tired of his protection however and pushed him away, each song pulling her deeper and deeper into the fray, until she had completely forgotten about everything that had been troubling her.

The show lasted for nearly an hour. When it finally ended, Gwen felt as though she'd been involved in a fight and an orgy all at once, though she found that she liked the feeling.

"That was fucking amazing!" she said, turning to Duncan, who was watching her with a mixture of amusement and concern.

"That's Static Apocalypse for ya." he said, grinning. "They really know how to make you forget all about the shit going on in your life."

"How did you know I have shit going on in my life?" Gwen asked.

"Because everyone does." Duncan said. "Also, I could tell from the way you were hanging back when I first got here. You weren't sure if you belonged, as I'm guessing you feel in your everyday life, and you didn't want to risk putting yourself out there. Am I right?"

"You are." Gwen answered. "This is the first time in my life where I haven't felt like there's a weight of someone else's fucking expectations of judgments on my shoulders."

"Yeah, that's what being a part of this community will do for for you." Duncan said.

"How do I feel like this all the time?" Gwen asked, genuinely curious.

"You find the strength within yourself." Duncan answered.

"I'm not sure I can do that." Gwen said, suddenly ashamed.

"Sure you can." Duncan said. "You just have to look hard enough. Eventually the answer will present itself."

"If you say so." Gwen said, staring at her feet again.

Duncan didn't immediately respond, taking a moment to consider this sad, broken girl before him. He wasn't usually the kind of person who helped others, but Gwen seemed so desperate to free herself of the shackles of her oppressors that he couldn't just turn his back on her.

"Tell ya what." he said. "Meet me here tomorrow night and I'll introduce you to some people who can help you. Sound like a plan?"

"Sure." Gwen said, feeling her spirits lift again. "But, who are these people you'll introduce me too, exactly?"

"You'll find out tomorrow." Duncan said. "Now let's get out of here before the crazy late night drunks show up."

Gwen nodded and they exited the club together, parting ways a few blocks later with Duncan's promise that everything would make sense soon. Gwen wasn't so sure of that, but she couldn't help but trust him even though they'd just met. There was something about him that made her feel safe and loved, two things she'd never really felt before, though she couldn't quite explain what that something was. Still, she knew it was there and she was eager to see where this journey would lead her and if it would finally give her the sense of purpose and belonging she had been searching for her entire life.

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**A/N: And that's chapter 2. The chapters will be getting longer, I promise. Anyway, Gwen and Duncan have now met and the beginnings of Gwen's transformation are taking place. It remains to be seen exactly what Duncan has planned for her and how she and others will react to it, but it's going to be a fun ride, I can promise you that. Also, in case you're wondering, Meat Wagon and Static Apocalypse are fictional bands, though they were likely inspired by real bands I like. Anyway, that's all for now. Hope you enjoyed. Cheers, KT. **


End file.
